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Chronology
CAUTION. SPOILERS. This is an evolving timeline and assumes the reader is fully acquainted with the Wapsi Square comic storyline to date. Readers who have not read the complete series are strongly advised against consulting this page, as due to its nature, no spoiler will be withheld. 'Sources and methods' This timeline of the events on the world of Wapsi Square is compiled from three sources: 1) The Wapsi Square comic itself, presented in normal typeface. 2) Events from real world history, presented in boldface. 3) Events from real world myth and legend, and their approximate dates,'' presented in italics''. While the comic is authoritative in the events that happen in the world in which it takes place, not all characters are equally reliable or informed when describing events in the past. Events without specific dates are marked with bullet points in their presumed chronological order. 'Syncopation with the real world' Another issue is the pacing of the comic, which may not reflect the passing of time on a day-to-day equivalency with the real world from its beginning in 2001 to the present (2011). Thus, dates for the characters in the 1990s and later are estimated, based on best presented evidence. Along these lines, the passage of seasons are noted with the date of the comic--not the storyline--in {fancy brackets}. The coming and going of Minnesota winters are a recurring joke in Wapsi Square, but match their passage in the real world without taking into account how this would affect the story arc if taken literally. Chronology 'BC' 200,000-50,000 Approximate dates for the appearance of Homo sapiens sapiens *Demons arrive from the Demon World, itself a "timeless" place, in order to infest early humans. 40,000-30,000 Writing develops in this period to a degree of sophistication that draws the attention of the Library, a sentient dimension separate from Earth that collects all written material. Any one of the following may have been the catalyst for depositing works by humans into the Library: Numerical tallies date as early as 40,000 BC Wall paintings begin between 40,000-32,000 BC Neolithic trade tokens evolve into cuneiform by the 31st Century BC "Scholars make a reasonable distinction between prehistory and history of early writing, but have disagreed concerning when prehistory becomes history and when proto-writing became 'true writing'. The definition is largely subjective. Writing, in its most general terms, is a method of recording information and is composed of glyphs." --Wikipedia *Therefore, the Library notices humanity sometime between 40,000 and 30,000 BC. *Discovering humans are infested with demons, the Library dispatches apotropaic sphinxes to destroy the demons. No mercy is required toward the afflicted humans. 30,000-28,000 Homo neanderthalensis, an illiterate species, goes extinct. (Remnants may survive as late as 22,000 BC.) 28,000-10,500 *Lanthis becomes the most advanced civilization in the world under a matriarchy. *Jin is born to Mayahuel, a Lanthian scientist/magician. *Jin exhibits visions and/or mental displacement in time, which at some point involves demon infestation. *Mayahuel designs the Calendar Machine to tap into the power of the Milky Way's rotation in order to stabilize Jin's mind. When it begins functioning, everyone in the room with it becomes immortal (but not invulnerable). This includes Mayahuel, Jin and Kukulcan. *Lanthian matriarchy overthrown in a religious war and replaced with patriarchy. Priests gain control of the Calendar Machine. *Mayahuel creates Tepoz, her first golem, made perhaps from rats and weasels. He is small, immortal, but not very invincible. *Mayahuel leaves instructions for herself to be transformed into a golem. She is so transformed, but the method is now in the hands of the priests. Mayahuel departs with Calendar Machine. *Priests round up 18-year old girls in order to locate Jin, so that they can find Mayahuel. *Several weeks after Mayhuel's departure, Tepoz meets Jin disguised as a boy. *Brandilyn Oduya, a Lanthian girl of African descent, is captured by priests while she is defending a nursery. *Acacia Budur, a Lanthian girl of Mediterranean descent, is captured by priests while fetching water for her family. Bud is brought with Brandi to a ziggurat in order to build the Chimera. Jin attempts to free them, but is caught, and attempts to kill herself before the three are immolated. 10,500 The Chimera is created. It slips the control of its makers, and burns Lanthian civilization to the ground. The Chimera alters the polarity of the Earth's axis. *The Great Sphinx of Giza is built as a warning and a reminder of the lost civilization of Lanthis. *Glyph readers separate the Chimera into three separate entities. *The Timekeepers, including Mayahuel, assign Tepoz as the Keeper of the golems separated from the Chimera, and he makes the effort to restore the original personalities to them for the first time in thousands of years, creating the Golem Girls. The Golem Girls bear outward resemblance to and the suppressed memories of the girls sacrificed to create the Chimera. *The first question Jin is able to ask is to see her mother. *While under Tepoz' care, Brandi makes a deal with entities of the Demon World. *Tepoz takes the Golem Girls to the Western Hemisphere. c. 5200? The adventurer Gisaultees flourishes. c. 1500-400 Olmec civilization flourishes. "Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE" -Wikipedia: "Olmec" c. 1350 Bud does something to upset Amenhotep IV. Wikipedia, "Akhenaten" c. 1190? Trojan War. The adventurer Odysseus flourishes. Wikipedia: "Troy VIIa", "Wilusa" 8th Century? Nudge meets Oedipus of Thebes in the Library, and gives him a book to throw at Phix, who is guarding Thebes against humans carrying demons for one single day. Oedipus throws this book, containing Nudge's sentence of exile, at Phix, destroying it. Nudge escapes the Library, Phix is condemned to take her place there, and Oedipus embellishes his story. c. 700 Earliest surviving written mention of Oedipus in Hesiod's ''Works and Days, as a king in a struggle against his two sons.'' 6th Century The Iliad is compiled around this time, with the earliest surviving written mention of the Chimera: "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire". - Wikipedia, "Chimera (mythology)" 360 Plato's dialogues ''Timaeus and Critias are the earliest that describe Atlantis; Plato insists this knowledge comes from the Egyptians.'' c. 100 Teotihuacán founded Wikipedia, "Teotihuacan" 'CE' 562 Wak Chan K’awiil, King "Double Bird", was defeated and sacrificed when Tikal’s neighbors overthrew him. *Mayahuel attempts to destroy the Calendar Machine; Jin is present. Mayahuel enters the Demon World. Approximate date to which the Calendar Machine resets the spacetime of the Milky Way, 56 times. Before this date are events which are identical to all 57 iterations of Earth history, as they only occured once. Following this date are listed events for the 57th iteration of Earth, in which the comic is set. For chronology of the other 56 "reset" Earths, see Time Loop Chronology. 7th-8th Centuries Teotihuacán abandoned after a series of uprisings; "the burning was limited to the structures and dwellings associated primarily with the elite class." -Wikipedia, "Teotihuacan" *Tepoz and the Golem Girls are left behind when Teotihuacán is deserted. 681-808 Mayan city of Yaxchilan at its height. Wikipedia, "Yaxchilan" *Tepoz hides the Golem Girls in a temple at Yaxchilan. 795-1014 Vikings raid Ireland. Wikipedia, "Viking expansion" 9th Century Earliest texts which would become the Arabian Nights first recorded. 1362 Norsemen may have explored Minnesota.' Wikipedia, "Kensington Runestone" 1479 Aztec Sun Stone Calendar completed. -truman.edu 16th Century Bananas introduced to the Americas by Portuguese sailors who bring the fruits from West Africa. - Wikipedia, "Banana" c. 1600 Tepoz "out for 400 years" beginning around here. Possibly meaning his being an unmoving statue. 17th-18th Century The westward migrating Ojibwe name the Wapsipinicon River, Waabizipinikaan-ziibi ("river abundant in swan-potatoes"). 1704 The stories of Aladdin and Ali Baba are added to the Arabian Nights by Antoine Galland. 1858 May 11 Minnesota admitted into the United States as the 32nd state. 1901 Nikola Tesla begins construction of the Wardenclyffe Tower, a wireless communication and power broadcast station. 1917 Wardenclyffe Tower destroyed on orders of the United States Government. Wikipedia, "Wardenclyffe Tower" 1930s *Yummy Tea's grandmother refuses the passionate advances of Diego Rivera. Wikipedia, "Frida Kahlo--Marriage" 1941-1945 Monica's maternal grandfather, Aaron Sullivan serves in the European Theater of World War II as a motorcycle dispatch driver. 1945 The U-296 retrieves the Lanthian Relic from Ireland. En route toward the Caribbean, a fight breaks out on board, and after the captain shoots the last of his crew, he turns the gun on himself. The submarine sinks in the Bermuda Triangle with the Relic. *Aaron Sullivan discovers the location of the Calendar Machine with his lover Jin, the "Golden-eyed Woman", and later records his adventures on reel-to-reel tapes. 1960 November 17 RuPaul born. 1976 Tina Rosario Aldaco Guzmán born. 1980 *Amanda Erlich born, possibly the same year as Monica. *Monica Villarreal born. *Shelly Wahnee born, about a year after Monica. *Monica's great-grandmother dies when Monica is two years old. *At around this time, a young Yummy Tea notices his grandmother owns a statue that may be well be Tepoz, with which she seems to have conversations. *Monica learns Glyph from ages three to fourteen from someone she believes is her great-grandmother. Her actual teacher is Mayahuel, speaking to her from the Demon World. 1985 *Amanda is traumatized by the friendliness of a big dog. *Amanda is "like a big sister" to Monica in kindergarten and thereafter. *Shelly grows up "in the southwest" United States. *Shelly becomes hypnotized by one of her mother's chotskis for an entire day. 1990s *Shelly's mother dies when she is ten. She begins having troubled dreams about a rabbit. *Shelly is a bully in grade school in Minnesota, but defends Owen. *Monica takes ballet in junior high school. *Monica tells her family about visiting her great-grandmother; he father tells her her great-grandmother has been dead for twelve years. *Shelly's dreams lead her to wander into the Minnesota woods for five days on a vision quest when she is thirteen. Nudge, in the guise of Coyote, causes her to become lost. She goes into hypovolaemic shock, crushing her demons into a single entity, Creepy Little Girl, who subsequently manifests as her Conscience. She is found in this condition by Jin, in the guise of Tochtli, the Aztec rabbit spirit associated with Tepoztecatl. Jin tells Shelly to keep the dolls Shelly's mother left her safe. *When she is fourteen, Monica runs from Tina's demons in the streets of Mexico City. She runs in front of a bus causing a traffic collision that nearly kills her, and does kill Tina. Since Tina's demons are directly responsible for causing Monica physical harm, it is possible that time stands still because of this forbidden act. If so, it is unknown how time resumes moving. *In any case, Tina's demons are cursed with amnesia, and are trapped in Tina's body. Nudge joins them in the local morgue, and reanimates the body without the expired Tina. *Because of her apparent suicide attempt, Monica spends the next four years under psychiatric care, variously described as extended 'hospital' stays" or outright being committed; likely including verbal drills, shock therapy and other "invasive" techniques. *The reanimated Tina returns to Miami, where she has her face and teeth repaired and goes through the dead Tina's things. *Tina moves to Minnesota and opens Mucho Mocha coffee shop in Wapsi Square. *Amanda and Monica both work on the yearbook at their high school. *Monica gets Dietzel as a puppy. He is hit by a june bug while hanging his head out of a moving car's window. 1997 *Monica starts coming into Mucho Mocha regularly. 1998 January 20 Remains of the Day (1993) released on VHS. *Shelly in college working on a degree in music theory. 2000 *Shelly, Owen and Jacqui form a band, but can't decide on a name for it. *Monica meets Shelly while Shelly and Jacqui are looking for a venue. 2001 (The "present" of Wapsi Square begins.) September 11 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants first published in hardback. *Shelly, Owen and Jacqui name their band Fermented Banana. *The Pickeldippers play the Twin Cities. *While still studying in college, Monica works in an antique store. Her studies and job brings her into contact with the local Natural History Museum, cataloging acquisitions. {December 26 Over the holidays, Monica has "come to terms with Winter in the Northern Midwest".} 2002 *Monica is assigned by the Museum to prepare pre-Colombian artifacts, and she releases Tepoz. She believes him to be a figment of her imagination, and puts him on a bus for Utah. {February 4 Monica warned of icy roads.} February 5 Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) released on VHS. {March 29 Monica surprised by a sudden Spring thunderstorm} April 27-29 Tepoz probably is present to see the Utah Jazz lose two home games to the Sacramento Kings, knocking them out of the playoffs. basketball-reference.com *Owen first meets Lakshmi on a blind date; Jacqui seems to know about Lakshmi beforehand. *Kevin first meets Monica while preparing an exhibit of his work at her museum. August 20 Pretty In Pink (1986) first released on DVD. *Tepoz returns from Utah. *Tepoz claims he must "return Monica a favor every solar year" or he will return to stone. {November 6 Janet needs help sifting through proposals for the Winter Gallery.} {November 13 Monica considers catching the Autumn foliage in Virginia.} *Monica's boss, Mr. Fields, meets Tepoz, but assumes he is an animatronic doll. *Monica leaves for a week-long vacation with her family in Mexico. *Owen first meets Heather when they are at the same gig in Iowa. 2003 "Ned Loses Another Loan to DiTech" TV commercials begin airing. {April 2 Shelly finds the Minnesota weather is improving.} *Katherine has lived in the Twin Cities for about a year. *Katherine first meets Amanda, Jacqui and Shelly, and Owen and Lakshmi. *Monica has been going to Mucho Mocha for six years. 2004 *Heather moves to the Twin Cities, and gets a job as program director for KCQ. *Heather introduces herself to Shelly. *Amanda and Monica travel to Galena, Illinois to photograph a wedding, probably in the Spring, and certainly before June. *Tepoz first discovers that Monica is a Glyph reader. He learns from Kukulcan about her time under psychiatric care. *Shelly first meets Tepoz; Monica first tells her of her time under psychiatric care. {June 4 Owen appreciates Lakshmi in the Springtime.} *Monica's first poit may be the involuntary removal of her bra through a large sneeze. October 6 Ghost Hunters TV series debuts. *Jacqui quits vet school to create a yoga studio. {December 28 Tina accidentally puts egg nog into Monica's coffee.} 2005 *Heather has been in the Twin Cities "barely a year". *Jacqui opens Punk Yoga. *Monica has been going to Mucho Mocha for "several years"; Tina gives Monica her full name. *The New World Portal Cloth is delivered to the Museum. *Katherine first meets Tepoz. *Tepoz summons the Golem Girls to Monica's home in the guise of drunk coeds. {October 17 Kevin mistakes the Golem Girls' ashes for a Halloween decoration.} *Bud first meets Kevin. *When directly confronted by Monica whether he had anything to do with the murder of Bud, Brandi and Jin, Tepoz claims to not to have "come along" until hundreds of years later. *It is almost ten years since Shelly went on her vision quest, when Tepoz reveals what he knows about Tochtli and Monica's bus accident in Mexico. This means that here, Shelly is either twenty-two or twenty-three years old. *Shelly first meets Bud and Brandi; she and Monica learn that Tochtli is Jin. 2006 *Monica first meets Georgette Sundahl. *Monica first meets Jill Sundahl working at the pub Georgette is purchasing. {March 13 Monica likes Minneapolis in the Spring.} *Monica reveals to Tepoz that Jin is Tochtli. *Heather first visits Mucho Mocha where she first meets Tina, and first meets Vickie Talbot. {May 16 Shelly has experienced cold Spring cuddle weather} *Daren first meets Bud. *Jacqui first meets Bud. *Jin first meets Alan. {2006 October 2 Shelly looks forward to Fall weather.} *Brandi takes Monica to the Library for the first time, and introduces her to Phix. December Shelly uses her artificial Christmas tree for the last time. 2007 *Monica brings Shelly to the Library, where Shelly meets Phix for the first time. Phix gives Shelly the Hammer. {February 16 Tepoz and Monica comment on the harsh winter weather in upstate New York.} 9 March "300" starring Gerard Butler opens in theatres *Selenium introduces himself to Amanda. *Tina reveals to Monica that she is a demon collective. *Bud first meets Tina. {2007 October 18 Monica suddenly buried by snow.} December Shelly decides to buy a real tree for Christmas. 2008 January Shelly resolves to become a personal trainer as a new year's resolution. *Bud reveals the existence of the supernatural world to Kevin. Monica fully elaborates upon it to him. *Kevin and Bud independently, and almost simultaneously, come to the conclusion that there is no need to wait for 2012 to fix the Calendar Machine. *Brandi meets Tina, sees her clock key and discovers the blade it conceals. Tina gives her the bladed part. *Alan first meets Bud. *Katherine first meets Phix. *Monica first meets Selenium when he is four years old. *Kevin leaves to photograph wildlife from a duck blind for four months. *The Calendar Machine is thrown into the Demon World. Bud follows it there and crushes it into a pebble. Bud returns from the Demon World with the crushed Calendar Machine and Mayahuel. *Mayahuel and Jin are reunited. *Bud destroys the remains of the Calendar Machine by launching it into the sun. *Two years after Monica is introduced to the Golem Girls, she reveals the existence of the supernatural world to Amanda. *Bud first meets Amanda. *The rogue demons are brought before Phix, who judges them. "They will no longer be a problem". *Kevin returns from his duck blind. *Monica discovers a sand bar in the Bermuda Triangle which is perfect for beach parties. *Stinky delivers the sunken U-296 to Bud at the sandbar. Bud explores it and retrieves the Lanthian Relic, but triggers a booby trap set by the captain, destroying the sub and the sandbar. *Shelly handles the Lanthian Relic and is sent to the Sacred Forest World, which acts as the "flywheel" for the Calendar Machine resets. She lives there as a sphinx for about 80,000 years (on the opposite arrow of time), but is returned to Minneapolis as a mortal human only a moment after she left. {2010 March 4 - Shelly warns Winter its days are numbered, and slips on ice} *Phix returns Nudge to the Library, and drives her out of Tina. The Library declares their punishments are at an end, and assigns them both as Head Librarians. {2010 November 15 - Monica surprised by snow.} {2011 March 11 - Monica struck by snow.} *Bud brings the powered Relic to Mayahuel, and together they install it into Jin. Jin reboots as a golem with fragile human parameters, but her mental difficulties are eliminated. Upon realizing her situation, Jin attempts suicide, but is rescued by Bud, who only manages to break Jin's nose and some ribs in the process. *Brandi is only informed of the powering of the Relic and the repair of Jin afterwards, and becomes enraged. *Monica returns to Daren's after an absence of a few years. {2011 December 7 - Monica is convinced she is safe from a sneak attack by snow, since it is already Winter.} 2012 January 1? Shelly gets into a drunken bar fight with racists. *Shelly and Justin inadvertently reveal their supernatural natures to one another. *Shelly introduces Justin to Brandi, and Bud is embarrassed as her yokel flirtation towards Justin is exposed. *Shelly introduces Justin to Tina. December 21 End of Mayan Long Count.